


Protectors

by stormyemerald



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eren needs a hug, F/M, Friendship/Love, Hugs, Kissing, Talking, Wholesome, confiding in each other, historia is overwhelmed and needs a day off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:35:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22458853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormyemerald/pseuds/stormyemerald
Summary: Historia has just become queen, and seeks a break from her celebration. Eren goes for fresh air and they meet on a balcony, Historia learning something about Eren.
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss & Eren Yeager
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Protectors

**Author's Note:**

> hello all! heres another AOT one shot that i whipped up yesterday. i really love Eren and Historia's relationship and i realized they have much in common when it comes to the amount of responsibility they carry.

Earlier that day, Historia had been crowned queen of the walls. Eren watched as she stood proud in front of her people, her hand over her heart. He was more than proud of her, having grown close to her recently, and glad that she had broken out of her shy shell.  
Now, Eren stood at the celebration, surrounded by his friends, as they laughed and talked. His focus however, was fixed on Historia, who was being bombarded by many different people, some were news reporters, some were upper class citizens who thanked her for becoming queen and defeating the massive titan that had plagued the wall earlier that day. He eyed her as she smiled at the people and tried her best to respond to their questions and praises.  
Eren’s gaze was broken and his attention was returned to the friends who stood in a group around him as Armin spoke his name.  
“...right, Eren?” Armin said, finishing a sentence. Eren was completely zoned out from the conversation and furrowed his brows in confusion.  
“Huh?” Eren replied as Armin rolled his eyes in a playful manner.  
“While you were so obviously checking Historia out over there, Armin was telling us a story about how when you guys were kids you and Mikasa play fought and she pinned you in less than three seconds! Then you cried and demanded a rematch!” Jean cut in, laughing as he hit Eren with a two in one. He grew bold and threw in a third. “The savior of humanity, the big and scary titan shifter himself pinned by a girl!” Jean slung his arm obnoxiously over Eren’s shoulder.  
“Shut up, horseface,” Eren retorted as he shook Jean‘s arm off of him. “And it wasn’t three seconds! I put up a good fight!” Eren began, which commenced a back and forth between the two.  
After a few minutes of being engaged in the conversations between the rest of his friends, Eren excused himself from the group to get some fresh air. He started toward the exit, opened one of the large doors and slipped out. The hallway was quiet, the only noise accompanying Eren was the sound of his own footsteps. As loud of a person he can be himself, sometimes he needed the quiet, and celebrations like that with a lot of people can be quite draining.  
Eren started for the end of the hallway, where there were two doors that lead to a balcony which overlooked the city. He wandered to the doors and opened one, carefully closing it behind him when a voice spoke that surprised him.  
“Eren?” The soft voice spoke, and Eren turned to see Historia, the beautiful girl looking to him in question.  
“Oh, Historia, I’m sorry I disturbed you, I’ll just head back inside.” Eren smiled to her and gestured to the door before turning back to it. He felt a gentle hand tug on his wrist, which stopped him. He turned back to Historia as she spoke.  
“No, it’s okay. Stay.” Historia said, as she smiled and released her hand from his arm.  
“Okay,” He started, “What are you doing out here anyway?” He said as they walked to the edge of the balcony, leaning over it as he spoke.  
“I just got a bit overwhelmed, you know, with all those people crowding me. Just needed a breather.” Historia looked forward at the buildings, the windows looked like stars as they were lit. “What about you?” She turned to look up to Eren, her soft eyes meeting his naturally intense gaze.  
“Pretty much the same reason, except I’m not the queen and I wasn’t being bombarded.” Eren chuckled at the fact that he looked stupid needing fresh air when he wasn't even being overwhelmed by strangers compared to Historia. “I just wanted some quiet.”  
“You and quiet? How bizarre.” Historia jested weakly, something clearly on her mind.  
“All right I give you that one.” Eren said as he laughed at her joke. As their laughter faded, Historia became serious, looking out over the balcony once again.  
“Eren, to tell you the truth. I think I’m going to start longing for quiet more frequently.”  
“Why’s that?” Eren queried.  
“It’s just… I feel overwhelmed. With all those people coming up to me I really realized how much is riding on me. I mean, it’s now my responsibility to lead these people. I just don’t really know if I can do that. It’s such a change to have all of these people counting on me.” Historia sighed, a weight leaving her chest as she vocalized her concerns.  
“I know how you feel.” Eren started, as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the balcony’s bannister.  
Historia put her hand to her forehead. “That’s right...you do. Here I am complaining when you have it much worse.” She let out a small chuckle, as she felt silly for not taking into consideration how Eren must feel.  
“Historia…” Eren started before she interrupted him.  
“How do you do it?” Historia asked, and she was genuinely baffled. “How do you handle having all these eyes on you?” She turned to him, eyes wide as they searched his for an answer.  
The question caught Eren off guard. He looked anywhere but her gaze, his uncertainty of his answer preventing him from making eye contact. He finally gathered his thoughts after searching for the answer himself.  
“I…I don’t.” He stuttered and Historia furrowed her brow before he continued. Eren turned to face the town. “Everyone looks at me like I’m some kind of savior. I can’t go anywhere without people stopping me and thanking me or saying something along those lines. When I walk through town little kids stare at me and smile like I’m a hero. Sometimes I have these awful nightmares that titans are slaughtering innocent people in front of me, and I try to transform but I can’t. And I sit and watch as the people die. They die because I was weak. I can’t just brush it off as a nightmare because the reality is something like that could very well happen. And sometimes this weight forms on my shoulders when I get lost in my head. I think of how all these people have so much faith in me. These people depend on me. And I really can’t help but to think what if I’m not strong enough? What if I can’t protect them?” Eren turned to Historia who opened her mouth to speak but no words could be formed.  
Eren began again. “The difference between me and you, Historia, is that you are strong enough. You can protect them.”  
Historia looked up to him and smiled warmly. His reassurance meant everything to her, but his self doubt pained her to her core. Her entire expression softened, but her intense gaze met Eren’s eyes. “Without you humanity wouldn’t be where it is now. The people may have _faith_ in you, but I _know_ you. And I know that you are the strongest person I’ve ever met. So when you are doubting yourself, not only remember my words, but remember this.” Historia reached her delicate hand to his face, and stood on her toes to connect their lips together. She pulled away, and Eren smiled, a sight not often seen. He stepped closer to her and wrapped his firm arms around the small girl, the embrace communicating his gratitude towards the queen.

They stayed on the balcony for a while longer, watching over the city together as some of the lights began to dim. The door opened behind them and Jean’s voice broke their peace. “There you two lovebirds are! We’ve been looking for you guys everywhere!”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! have a great day!


End file.
